Pound flat and markets hold steady as Britain goes to the polls

The latest polls give the Conservatives a 7-point lead over Labour.

Prime Minister Theresa May in final campaigning prior to Britain going to the polls for its second general election in just over a year todayStefan Wermuth/Reuters

The pound held steady at a two-week high as the Britain goes to the polls for its second general election in just over a year today (8 June).

Sterling is trading practically flat against both the dollar and euro, at $1.2962 and £0.8686 per euro.

The country's blue chip FTSE 100 Index was also flat, up just 5.6 points to 7484.3 in early trading.

Polling booths in the UK opened at 7am (BST) and will close at 10pm tonight in the snap election called back in April by Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May.

May is on course to increase her majority in the House of Commons with a final campaign poll giving the Tories a lead of seven points over Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn, as the nation heads to the ballot box.

The last poll conducted by YouGov on Wednesday evening put the Tories on 42% and Labour on 35%.

However, at the start of the campaign the Conservative had as much as a 24-point lead when the election was first called, in what has widely been seen as a faltering drive for votes by the Prime Minister.

"We begin with the start of polling in today's UK General election vote and the end of a fairly surprising campaign that was on the face of it a much closer race than had originally anticipated," said CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson.

He added: "From an uninspiring Conservative party campaign to a Labour one which went better than expected the pound has held up well, in anticipation that a Labour victory is still thought unlikely."

If the YouGov survey is replicated at the polls today the Conservatives would end up with an increased majority of almost 50 seats, up on the 17 the party enjoyed previously.